The emotional burden of living with a terminal illness is terrible no matter who you are, but children and their families facing the terrifying ordeal in the bush have hope: Country Hope.
Country Hope is turning 20 this year, and is taking the time to celebrate the amazing individuals, organisations and businesses that have helped them help sick kids in the Riverina and Murray regions.
From a single camp two decades ago, the charity has since grown into a beloved organisation currently supporting over 155 children living with terminal illnesses and their families.
With their headquarters in Wagga, Country Hope covers the regions of Albury and Griffith and beyond, and have recently expanded into Dubbo.
Simon Barton, fundraising and events coordinator, said they’d seen the need for Country Hope in the Central West area, and were seeing the community embrace them with open arms.
Simon became involved with Country Hope in 2009, undergoing the training to become a Camp Buddy when his friend told him of how much they needed volunteers.
Falling in love with the idea, the mission and the people, Simon has been to every single camp since then, progressing to the Camp committee volunteer in 2017, becoming a Camp director in 2018, and then finally taking on one of the few paid positions of fundraising and marketing coordinator in 2022.
“It’s a place where kids get to be kids, they’re among friends and family that have an understanding of what it’s like to have an illness, or have a brother and sister who has an illness,” Simon said.
“For many, it’s the only holiday they’ll get that year, so we make sure it’s the best time for those kids. They can forget about the stresses and sadness that come with illness.”
Incredibly different every year, the annual camps give children the chance to experience things out of the ordinary, taking their mind away from whatever their battling and into the fun of just being a kid.
From trying out a hovercraft, going hot air ballooning to staying in places with Colonial history, the diversity of adventures on offer come thanks to the community – who often donate camp activities to Country Hope.
“It boggles my mind how generous communities can be,” Simon said.
He’ll never forget the year the Wandiligong community turned a paddock into Country Hope’s very own showground.
Nor the time when the kids stayed in the Beechworth Priory – they affectionately dubbed the ‘Harry Potter House’.
What they do
Aside from the camps, Country Hope provides emotional and financial support to country families who have a child diagnosed with cancer or other life-threatening illnesses.
However the support they offer is not a one-size-fits-all approach.
“We often have people ask us, how do you help?” Simon said. “We reply with: well, what do you need?”
He gave the example of a father who had a trucking business, who was supporting his family getting care for a sick child. He was was quite able to do so until his engine blew up.
“We were able to reach out to mechanics and other places and say ‘hey, what can you do?’ We we were able to use our connections to get the engine fixed quickly and at a really good price,” Simon said.
Out-of-the-ordinary support goes hand-in-hand with the normal expenses, such as travel, accommodation, bill and utilities costs, as well as emotional support.
“The thing we hear all the time from families, is they wished they’d known about us sooner,” Simon said.
“We’d like to change that.”